Former Delta State Governor, Chief James Onanefe Ibori, is set to launch fresh appeal against his conviction in London, following new claims the Scotland Yard and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) covered up evidence of police corruption in a high-profile money-laundering case.
Ibori, his lawyer and associates were sentenced to various terms in prison and all of them are about to serve out their sentences only for new information to emerge that the prosecution had taken bribes to suppress a substantial number of documents suggesting an officer did take bribes, according to the BBC.
In a swift response, Head of Chief James Onanefe Ibori’s Media Office, Tony Eluemunor, Eluemunor said: “The case demonstrates the truly shocking behaviour of the British Crown Prosecution Service. “Despite the over whelming evidence of corruption by British anti-corruption officers, it continues to prosecute James Ibori and others when it now has in its possession evidence as to the source of his funds. It is believed that Ms. Saunders’s position is now untenable.
As the Director of Public Prosecutions she has engineered a shocking cover-up. Eluemunor added, surprisingly, the September 16, 2016 BBC report written by Mark Easton, Home editor, and entitled “New evidence Supports Cover-up Claims in Ibori Case” is totally different from what appeared in the Nigerian media. The BBC report monitored last night has said, “The previously undisclosed material came to light after the Director of Public Prosecutions, Alison Saunders, demanded a review into the conviction of Nigerian politician James Ibori.
“The internal investigation followed allegations by defence lawyers that prosecutors had “wilfully misled” judges about the existence of evidence that could support corruption claims. Now defence solicitors are being sent previously unseen documents discovered during the review. “In a statement the CPS reveals how “the review team found material to support the assertion that a police officer received payment in return for information”.
“The review team has now concluded that this material should have been disclosed to the defence and the process of disclosure to relevant parties is under way.” “Prosecutors had previously denied there was any undisclosed material to support the corruption allegations and the admission that considerable documentation exists and should have been handed over, represents an embarrassing climb-down for the CPS.